Club cooks up support

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Local residents hungry for a good meal and anxious to watch high school football now have a pre-game option on the south side of town.

That’s because each Friday evening, Anita Summers and the rest of the Hopkins County Central booster club, along with Integra Bank, have been hosting tailgate parties before home and away games this season.

Bank president David Gamble, who runs the branch at 1910 S. Main St., approached Summers, hoping to help build support for the Storm.

“Me and him started talking, and he said he wanted to do something with the Central football program and he asked me if I could come up with something,” Summer said. “I told him we would like to tailgate here, and he said (to) come down.”

Gamble and the bank have helped by providing a space for the event, in addition to tables and accessories to set up, as well as conduct giveaways for items such as stadium blankets to provide warmth as the season continues through late fall.

Summers, the club’s vice president, said with each event the club and team gains new interest.

“Each time we come out, our booster club gets bigger and bigger, and our tailgate party gets bigger and bigger,” she said. “We have people who pull in just to see what we’re doing because they see our signs that we put out on the road.

“They support the Central football and want to come in and see what we’re doing or sometimes they just throw five dollars in our donation bucket.”

The parties, which start approximately 5:30 p.m. each Friday, provide a chance for Storm supporters to share a meal and excitement for the players.

Rodney Watts helps to man the grill, cooking up a variety of tailgate favorites.

“We have porkchops, we got chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, Polish sausage, everything,” he said. “We don’t charge nobody. It’s all donated from the booster club.”

Summers also made sure to say guests are not required to bring money for the meal.

“You can bring stuff if you like, but most of it we try and pitch in and pay for it,” she said. “We do a lot of fundraisers and we go to Sebree Rodeos. We set up there and do concession stands and we do concession stands here in Madisonville also for the chamber of commerce.”

Another tailgate organizer, Tim Tompkins, works for Atmos Energy and used the connection with his employer to enhance the Friday gatherings.

“Atmos Energy has a trailer that they use to do tailgating for Western Kentucky University and they got a new grill and stuff and I asked them what they were going to do with their old grill,” Tompkins said. “I asked them if I could get it for our football boosters here at Central and they donated the grill and then they had an extra P.A. system and they let me have that too. I mounted it all on a trailer and we’ve been tailgating with all that.”

Watts graduated from West Hopkins High School and now his nephew, Travis, plays for the Storm.

When asked about the party’s importance, Watts said the event is much more than getting together to listen to music or share a meal.

“(The best part is) meeting new people,” he said. “We all went to school together when we were young. Now, we’re growing up together and our kids are playing football.”

For Summers, it’s also a chance to show her support for her son, Cody, a junior.

“It gets the morale going,” she said. “It gets our spirits and pulls us closer together.”

Summer said the first tailgate began with 10 people and has slowly increased to more than 100 attending the function before Friday’s game against Calloway County.

“It’s gotten bigger and bigger,” she said. “Our booster club has always been pretty good, but not this big. We’ve got parents here and kids here and family here. We’ve all become one.”

After Friday’s gathering, Summers said she never thought she would be so excited about football, but with the success of this year’s Storm team and her son’s involvement, she’s hooked.

“All sports are important, but there’s something about football,” Summers said. “Four years ago, if you told me I was going to be watching football on TV, I’d say you’re crazy. This is like Oreo cookies, you’ll get addicted to it and it’s easy to get in.”